When It Really Doesn't Mean Anything
by luvsbitca
Summary: Spoilers for the Aquaman movie. Barry and Arthur have been together, sort of, since everything with Steppenwolf but then Barry sees what happens with Mera after the fight and assumes that what they have is over. Arthur returns and corrects this misassumption.


**spaghettitacos** , this probably isn't what you meant but hey, look what I managed to do.

I'm in an epic writing slump but I went to see _Aquaman_ and that reminded me that I shipped these two and then I had the idea and I just leaned into it. Fingers crossed it's not terrible.

 **When It Really Doesn't Mean Anything  
** by luvsbitca

Arthur pulled Mera closer to him and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. Barry jolted back and knocked into Victor where he was projecting the images onto the wall – Barry bounced off him, tumbled from the couch and landed with his face pressed into Lois' calf.

"You okay, Barry?" Clark asked as he lifted Barry back up to his feet with one hand. "I'm sure it wasn't anything."

"Of course not," Barry agreed, not meeting Clark's eyes. He looked back at the wall and watched as Arthur looked around him and lifted his trident above his head like the warrior he was. Barry tried not to let his heart sink as he watched.

-)(-)(-

Arthur jumped onto the jetty and shook out his hair. He looked down at his green and gold clothes and sighed. He needed to listen to Barry and set up a place to stash some clothes close to the jetty. Instead he had to walk the ten blocks to Barry's apartment both dripping wet and wearing something more ostentatious than Superman's red, blue, and underwear spectacular.

It had been a fortnight since his battle against his brother and he had finally found time enough to come to the surface and see his…people. The first stop was Barry, the first stop was always Barry and after they'd caught up seven or eight…or twenty times, he'd call Bruce, Clark, Diana, and Victor and explain the situation to them. He just knew Bruce, Diana, and Clark would do that look exchange that meant they were parentally proud of him and he really didn't need that – he had a father, and now a mother, for those looks already. He didn't plan to tolerate those looks from anyone.

Arthur walked through town, smirking at every person who looked at him twice. He smirked a lot.

-)(-)(-

Barry rolled over on his couch at the knock on his front door…he suspected he knew who it was. He really couldn't be bothered to talk to any of them; wasn't it enough he was still going to work every day?

The knock came again. Barry sighed and crawled off the couch. He opened the door to find Diana standing on the other side holding a bag of food.

"Thai?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose you can come in and tell me off."

"Why would I tell you off?" Diana asked him, placing the food on the bench.

"Then why are you here?"

"To bring you dinner and check in with you, no one has heard from you in two weeks. I'm concerned about you."

"I'm fine." Barry lied.

"My aunt used to tell me never lie to one of your sisters-in-arms, I believe it holds true for all warriors who fight side-by-side."

Barry sighed. "I'm just wallowing."

"Wallowing?"

"Like Rory when Dean broke up with her."

"I do not understand that reference."

"It's just something people do when their boyfriends, or girlfriends, or whatever you call it when you have sex with someone and they stay at your place a lot and they cook for you but you're not like officially dating or anything."

"That did not make sense."

Barry replayed what he'd said in his head and then slammed a hand to his forehead. "When they break up with you – you wallow. I'm wallowing. I'm still going to work but I just come home and watch Netflix and wish I was chilling. Eat a lot of ice cream and ignore the world while I lament the end of our relationship."

"Arthur." Diana said, like she was working all of this out.

"Exactly."

"Your relationship is over?"

"It wasn't really a 'relationship' in that way," Barry said fingers up in the air around relationship.

"Why is it over?"

"Because he's left and gone to Atlantis."

"That does not have to mean your relationship is over."

"Of course it's over," Barry explained to Diana. "It always had an expiry date and now Arthur has accepted his Atlantean side and has found a place for himself and a purpose he's not going to have time for this. I'm not going to be some guy who is hanging onto someone who has moved on."

"You care for him a great deal."

Barry looked at her, his eyes soft. "A great deal but…like, okay, have you ever seen that old movie _Speed_?"

Diana nodded.

"Like they said, relationships based on intense experiences never work."

Diana shook her head. "Barry, the only thing worse than losing someone you love is not fighting for them."

"If you've never won something you've fought for then maybe you'd realised why I'm scared of that prospect."

"You're an idiot," said a voice from the doorway – a voice Barry knew so well.

Barry span around. He spotted Arthur on the spin but his super-speed kicked in and he kept going. A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and he was stalled, looking into Diana's softly judging eyes.

"I should be going," she said, giving him a little nudge to turn around.

"Yeah," Arthur agreed. "I need to talk to Barry."

"Nice outfit," Diana offered as she walked past Arthur.

"Hi," Barry said, his hand half lifting in a wave. "What are you doing here?"

Arthur cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Your trident is very gold."

Arthur stepped closer. "Why are you ending our relationship?"

"Me?" Barry sputtered. "Me! I'm not the one who found an Atlantean…female being."

"Mera? What about Mera?"

"I saw you kiss her."

Arthur frowned. "I didn't kiss her, she kissed me."

Barry jaw dropped. "How many times did you kiss?"

"Once, then I explained to her that I already had a guy and she should look somewhere else."

"But after the fight…you kissed her on the forehead."

"Because we'd won. I don't kiss you like that."

"I know, why not?"

Arthur stared at Barry, mouth a little open. "What?"

"What? I can't want you to kiss me on the forehead?"

"Instead of the other type of kissing?" Arthur asked, eyebrows coming together.

"No, with the other type."

"So you don't want to break up?"

"You really told her about me?"

"Yeah, I told her I have a guy. I forgot to mention to her that the only thing faster than his mouth is his ability to jump to the wrong conclusion."

"We've never…I've never…you were gone."

"I called you from Sicily and explained that I was on a mission, I've been underwater since then."

"Yeah."

"And I said I'd come see you when it was done."

"Yeah."

"And you assumed we'd broken up."

"I didn't know I was your guy. I didn't even know if we were dating or just like if I was a convenient guy who knew you were Atlantean and whose cat you like."

"We're together," Arthur paused. "Unless you'd prefer to just become casual."

"I don't want casual with you. I'm in love with you…or, you know," Barry could feel his hands vibrating. "Something that is…something."

Arthur stepped closer, not touching Barry's hands and cupped his cheeks – pulling the other man into a kiss.

"So, that's okay?" Barry mumbled into Arthur's lips, blinking his eyes open slowly.

"Very," Arthur said, pressing a second kiss to Barry's forehead. "I…you know, me too."

Barry's eyes got soft and he leaned up to kiss Arthur. The next thing he knew his back was pressed into the wall and Arthur was looming into and over him in that way that made him feel safe and yet overwhelmed in the best possible way. Then Arthur was dropping to his knees in front of Barry and was pressing his cheek into the hardness he found there. Barry sighed and let his head thump back against the wall. With his eyes closed he remembered that he loved to watch Arthur so forced his head back to look down at the long-haired man as the Atlantean unzipped his pants and spread his pants wide to take Barry's suddenly completely hard cock into his mouth.

"Arthur…please."

Arthur looked up at Barry and smiled around the cock in his mouth to suck harder on Barry.

"I can't," Barry warned, it was too intense, he'd thought he'd lost this – convinced himself he'd never get this again and Arthur was cupping his balls and swirling his tongue around his head and sucking him down into his throat and Barry was so close to coming he knew he was never going to hold it off. "Arthur…oh…oh…Goooood, Arthur."

Arthur lapped at Barry's head one last time and then looked up at him.

"I didn't expect that," Barry panted, folding down in two and burying his nose into Arthur's brine-scented still-damp hair. That smell shouldn't make his cock twitch but it did. "Thank you."

Arthur's shoulders shook and he chuckled and then pulled away to press a kiss to Barry's lips and then stood up. "Well, you should always expect that when I come home."

Barry's stomach suddenly felt warm; _home_. "Diana brought over food. Do you wanna shower and we can eat?"

Arthur nodded. "Wanna join me?"

Barry nodded and pulled his top over his head. Arthur grabbed his hips and hoisted him up – carrying them both to the bathroom.

Later, both wrapped in towels and pressed into one another on the couch, with Carter, Barry's cat, purring against Arthur's shoulders, they ate.

"So," Barry started, "I know what happened up to Sicily and I know what Victor was able to pull off one of Bruce's secret satellites but I don't know what happened between these two things. Tell me everything."

Arthur explained what had happened in Sicily and Barry immediately pressed fingers against scars that didn't exist. He went on to explain the trip down to the Trench, the discovery that his mother was alive.

"She's alive?"

"Yes, she was trapped down there for years. I went into the cavern and found King Atlan and his trident. Then I fought his monster – you would have seen her."

"That giant, terrifying sea monster."

"Yep, she likes me."

"Just like Carter," Barry said, reaching up to scratch under Carter's chin.

Arthur shrugged and went on to explain the fight against his brother and the two weeks since his coronation. "I've asked my mother to rule with me, with Mera and Vulko as my advisors."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm going to be learning how to rule Atlantis. It seems you cannot run from these things forever."

"And?" Barry prodded.

"Be spending a bit of time down there."

"And less up here," Barry followed the thought through.

"Yeah, maybe."

Barry ate in quiet contemplation for a moment.

"It doesn't change anything." Arthur told him.

"Will you still be part of the team?" Barry asked, not asking the questions he really wanted to ask because Arthur had already told him that this was something.

"Yeah."

"Carter might miss you."

"Carter should know I'll keep coming back home."

"Carter's probably wondering if Atlantis is really home now."

Arthur put down his plate and twisted to collect Carter and look into her mis-matched eyes. "Carter should know that you make it home."

"Oh."

Arthur nodded, putting Carter down on his lap.

"Then Carter is happy that you have found a place in Atlantis and a place on land. I think that means you're growing as a person."

"I don't look forward to the look on Diana and Clark's faces."

Barry laughed. "Are you done with dinner? If so, we can go to bed."

Arthur grabbed both of their plates and dropped them onto the kitchen bench before pulling Barry with him and towards the bedroom.

 **The End**


End file.
